Boiler-cleaner.



L. J. BAYER.

BOILER CLEANER.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 2, 1913.

191 15,485. Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ILVVENTOR.

Leo r/b/m Bayer- B gll fmg ATTORNEY.

L. J. BAYER. BOILER CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2. 1913.

1 1 1 5,485. Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

2 sums-sum '2.

IXVI 'ENTOJL Leo dblm Bayer- ATTORNEY.

LEG JNO. BAYER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BOILER-CLEANER.

intense.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 2, 1913.

Serial No. 782,610.

To all 107L077), it may concern Be it known that I, LEO JoHN BAYEn,citizen of the United States, residing at St? Louis, State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boiler-Cleaners, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in boiler-cleaners; and itconsists in the novel details of construction more fully set forth inthe specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical middle section of the front endof one form of a conventional fire-tube boiler showing a special form ofmy invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a' combined elevation andvertical cross-section on the zig-zag line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is anenlarged side sectional elevation of the swing or expansion joint towhich the jet pipe 1s attached; Fig. 4: is an enlarged cross-section onthe'line 44- of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional detail showing the openingin the fine-cap or door for the passage of the operating stem; Fig. 6 isa combined sectional and elevational detail showing the connectionbetween the operating stem and the rotatable male section of theswing-joint; Fig. 7 is a front elevation of another form of boilershowing a modified form of my invention applied thereto; Fig. 8 is ahorizontal section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 7; and Fig. 9 is a verticalsection on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7. V

The object of my invention is to construct a device suitable forcleaning or removing soot, cinders, ashes and other mate,

rial usually'accumulating on the inside of the lines or tubesof'fire-tube boilers, the means employed being in the form of a suitabletubular member or pipe oscillating in front of the discharge ends of thetubes and being provided with nozzles properly distributed tosuccessively direct jets of steam (or equivalent medium) into the seriesof tubes, said jets traversing the tubes and scouring their innersurfaces of the accumulations referred to. In the present embodiment ofmy invention such oscillating member is mounted in the smoke-box of theboiler-furnace, this arrangement serving in a measure to dry andsuperheat the steam before the same is projected into the tubes.

A further object is to so mount the cleaner member 3.

as not to interfere with the opening or closing ofthe flue-cap or smokebox doors, the cleaner possessing further and other advantages betterapparent from a detailed description of the invention which is asfollows:

Referring to the drawings, and for the present to Figs. 1 to 6inclusive, S represents the boiler shell, 2. the fire-tubes or flues, athe tube-sheet, B the smoke-box or exit flue, and D the horizontallyhinged fluecap' or door of the smoke-box as well understood in the art.

Leading from the steam space of the boiler s a steam-supply pipe 1 inthepath of which is disposed a control valve V of any approved design, adrip-cock 2 being interposed between the steam supply 'source and thevalve so that the waterof condensation may be properly drained beforethe steam is allowed to pass through the valve-casing to its ultimatepoint of consumption. A section of the pipe 1 enters the smoke-box Bwhere it is subjected to the heat of the combustion products, the steambeing in a measure superheated before its final discharge, the pipebeing preferably supported 1n the smoke box by a bracket or equivalentThe pipe 1 terminates in the smoke-box in a T 4: the inner end of whosehorlzontal leg serves as the female section of a swing or expansionjoint, the male section 5 of which rotates freely in said female, andpasses through a stuifing box or gland It. By means of an elbow e themember 5 is coupled to the jet pipe 6 which is closed at its free end,but is provided with properly distributed peripheral teats, nipples ornozzles 7 facing the tube-sheet a and discharging into the ischar e endsof the several tubes 2; with an osc1llati0n of the pipe about the axisof the joint 5. The op posite or outerend of the T 4 is closed by a plug8 through which and through a terminal stuiiing-box Jr of which operatesarotatable stem 9 whose inner end is fastened to the spider orperforated disk 10 secured to the inner end of the joint 5. Thepreferred manner of making the connection is illustrated to bestadvantage in Figs. 3, at, 6, the stem 9 being provided with an innerreduced square (or polygonal) portion 9 which is bounded on either sideby screwthreaded portions 9-, the portion 9 being received by acorresponding opening in the spider 10, after whic lock on jam-nutsn arePatented Nov. 3, 19146 passed over the portions 9", 9, and against thespider, thereby completing the connection. To the outer end .of the stem9 is swiveled an extension 11 passing loosely through an opening o inthe flue-cap D, and oscillatable vertically or in the plane ofoscillation of said flue-cap. The outer end of the stem 11 is providedwith a removable hand-wheel 12.

The operation of the cleaner is substantially as follows :The axesof-the T 4, stem 9, and that of the joint 5 are coincident, the axis ofthe pipe .6 being disposed at right angles to that of the joint 5', thepipe sweeping in a plane parallel to the plane of the tube-sheet a andacross the'{ paths of discharges from the tubes 25 into the smoke-box.When the flue-cap D is closed (Fig. 1) the axis of the extension 11 ofthe stem 9 is coincident with the axis of the member 9, so that ifrotation is imparted to the member 11 (through proper manipulation ofthe handwheel 12), a corresponding rotation will be imparted to the stem9, and joint section 5, and an oscillation or sweep will be imparted tothe j et-pipe 6. .If previously, the valve V is opened so as to admitdry and superheated steam into the T 4, the fluid will escape in theform of dry steam-jets through the nipples or teats 7, and, with theoscillation of the pipe 6 in proper direction, said jets will be forcedsuccessively into the several tubes 25, the nipples being so distributedthat each 'tube 25 will receive 1ts proper quota of steam as the pipe 6isswung around in front of the tube-sheet a. In the present embodimentof my invention the steam jets are forced against the natural draftthrough the tubes 25, but since only a comparatively few tubes arecleaned or blown at any one time, the normal draft of the boiler is notmaterially interfered with. On the contrary it'is increased, because thesteam escaping from the rear ends of the tubes expands, increasing thecombustion, the natural draft thereby being increased toward the flue orsmoke: box B through the tubes not being blown.

The steam jets in traversing the several tubes or flues t scour theinner surfaces of the same thus cleaning them of all accumulations ofsoot, ashes, dirt, cinders and other material.-

When occasion arises to gain access to the interior of the smoke-box B,the hand-wheel 12 is removed, and the door D is swung outwardly. Thewalls of the opening 0 are made tapering so as not to bind with themember 11, the latter by reason of the sw vel joint m freely re'spondinto the swinging movement of the door (being depressed with the outwardswing of the door as shown by dotted position of the parts, Fig. 1) andwhen the link 11 has slipped out, of the opening 0 the door I) may beswung outwardly any desired degree (Fig. 1). Features shown but notalluded to are well known in the art and require no description in thepresent connection.

In some cases the smoke-box doors (especially where cast iron doors areused) swing in a vertical plane, being hinged about a vertical axis oneach side of the smokebox. Such a modification is shown in Figs. 7 to 9inclusive where the doors D, D, close over and against the rotatablestem 11. In

this modification the stem 11 need not be provided with a swivel jointsuch as m, the stem 11 being rigid and comprisinga single member secureddirectly to the member 10, a rotation of said member 11 about its axisimparting a sweep to the jet-pipe 6 the same as in the firstconstruction described. In

, fact, with the exception of the stem 11 and doors D, the modificationis identical with the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 .to 6inclusive. Naturally too, the use of vertically swinging side doors suchas D imparts a slightly different vertical longitudinal section to thesmoke-box B (compare Figs. 1 and 9). In either case the axis ofoscillation of the jet-pipe 6 corresponds to the axis of the swing joint5, said axis being so disposed and the jet openings 7 so distributedthat as the pipe 6 swings or sweeps about said axis, the steam jets(where steam is employed) will be projected through the entire series oftubes t and the boiler thoroughly cleaned (Fig. 2); Obviously, I need 7not restrict myself to,'the precise details here shown; neither need theinvention berestricted to tube boilers, any flue-boiler being hereincontemplated. It (Fig.2) represents a bar by which the valve V may beactuated, being an expedient well understood by the skilled mechanic.

Having describedmy invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with atubeboiler and smoke-box thereof, a movable flue-cap for the smoke-box,a tubular member permanently mounted in the smoke-box and adapted tosweep in a plane disposed across the path of discharge of the tubes intothe smoke-box, means permanently disposed in the path of the combustionproducts traversing the smoke-box for delivering a cleaning medium tosaid member, the latter being perforated peripherally to dischargecleaning jets into the several tubes with the sweep of the member in theplane aforesaid, and means operating through the flue-cap forcontrolling said member from a point outside the smoke-box.v

2. In combination with a tube-boiler provided with an exit-flue for thecombustion products, a steam-supply pipe having a section thereofpermanently disposed in the path of said combustion products, a jet-pipeleading from and communicating with said section and permanentlyconfined in the flue and oscillating in a plane across the dischargeends of the tubes, a movable flue-cap for the flue, means operatingthrough the flue-cap for controlling said jet-pipe, the latter beingprovided with perforations adapted to discharge steam into the severaltubes with an oscillation of the pipe in either direction,

3. In combination with a tube-boiler and smoke-box thereof, a steamsupply-pipe traversing the smoke-box, a hinged flue-cap for thesmoke-box, a swinging jet pipe leading from and communicating with thesupply-pipe and permanently positioned in the smoke-box and oscillatingacross the path of discharge of the combustion products from thefire-tubes into the smoke-box, a member for imparting a swingingmovement to the jet-pipe, a swiveled extension coupled to said memberand responsive to the oscillations of the flue-cap, said extensionpassing through the flue-cap and being controllable from a point outsideof the flue-cap for a closed position of the latter, the jet-pipe beingprovided with peripheral perforations for projecting the steam into theboiler tubes through the discharge ends thereof.

4. In combination with a tube-boiler, a smoke-box having a movablefront, a steam supply pipe having a section permanently confined in thesmoke-box and terminating in a T opposite the tube-sheet, a hollowrotatable joint member in said T communicating with-the supply-pipe, ajet pipe coupled to the joint, and oscillating in a plane parallel tothe tube-sheet and provided with peripheral discharge openings facingthe adjacent ends of the tubes, a spider in the joint member, and arotatable stem secured to the spider and projecting through the movablefront of the smoke-box, the axis of the stem being coincident with theaxis of the spider and of the joint-member.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

LEO JNO. BAYER.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, Joe. A. MICHEL.

